All change for Android?<\/p>\n
Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Despite the glitz of Google\u2019s Android I\/O<\/a>, there\u2019s a new problem that\u2019s now the biggest threat<\/a> to the world\u2019s leading OS since inception. Whisper it quietly, but everything could suddenly change \u2014 not immediately, but when it does there will be no turning back. This impacts Samsung<\/a> most and for Galaxy users it completely changes your phone.<\/p>\n Google has essentially challenged Samsung to recover from its One UI 7 nightmare in the next few weeks, restoring confidence in Android\u2019s leading OEM. Android 16, says Google, will rollout to Samsung and other OEMs \u201cstarting this summer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Not Pixel, though. Android 16 will come to Google\u2019s phones weeks if not months before any others. Per Android Police:<\/a> \u201cWhy should someone who spent over $1,000 on a flagship Samsung device have to wait for features available on a $499 Pixel?\u201d<\/p>\n ForbesGoogle Warns Android Phone Thieves\u2014We Will Shut You DownBy Zak Doffman<\/a><\/p>\n Good question. Samsung is Android\u2019s leading OEM, outelling Pixels more than 10 to 1. Pixel isn\u2019t even second. China\u2019s leading OEMs all dwarf Pixel as well<\/a>. Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo all outsell Pixel several times over. As does Huawei \u2014 albeit those phones now run their own OS and are Google-free. Watch this space. There\u2019s now talk in China<\/a> that those other OEMs may join Huawei in ditching Android for a Made In China OS.<\/p>\n Huawei\u2019s OS was conceived as an IOT architecture that was then expanded to phones when U.S. sanctions hit. It\u2019s leaner and better optimized for today\u2019s devices, and it underpins an Apple-like connected ecosystem. Android, in contrast, seems bloated.<\/p>\n If China does split, Android would essentially be all about Samsung. The vast majority of Android phones would all come from the Galaxy-maker. And yet its OS would come from the Pixel-maker, which has now joined its mobile phone and mobile phone OS teams within a single unit. It\u2019s hard not to see the problem. This won\u2019t work.<\/p>\n This disconnect is becoming ever more apparent. We saw it with Samsung\u2019s Android 15 delays and we see it each month with a complex security update that is shamed by Pixel\u2019s efficient Apple-like approach. Pixel doesn\u2019t flex its OS for carriers, and so it\u2019s a one-and-done deal to update its ecosystem. Samsung takes the full month to deploy, and users of all but the latest flagships often wait weeks for critical updates.<\/p>\n This is now being called out by Android users. \u201cWhy pick Pixel over iPhone or Samsung,\u201d a Reddit thread<\/a> has just asked. \u201cWhy do you choose to use a Google Pixel (let\u2019s say the Pixel 9 Pro) over a Samsung or iPhone, given that the Pixel may have slower software and hardware?\u201d<\/p>\n